[council] Role of council with respect to Agenda Item 4

[Amadeu Abril i Abril]

Neuman, Jeff wrote:
> Bruce, 
> 
> I do agree with much of what you have stated in your e-mail with respect to
> the GNSO's role.  However, I would like to clarify that that the
> introduction of registry services is not a policy matter within the scope of
> the GNSO.  Such a policy (or even if you believe a lack of policy) is
> governed by the contracts and not through the GNSO policy process.  

The distinction does not hold, Jeff. On the material side, if the 
service has implications on the structure and usability of the DNS, 
"this" is indeed subject to evaluation and possible policy 
recomendations, for instance by GNSO. On the implementation side, some 
policy issues may be dealt with just the internal ICANN process, and 
some "might" require contractual negotiations/enforcement/whatever. And 
some services might have absolutely nothing to do with ICANN's process 
or registry contracts.

The "waht" and the "how" are different things, and the fact that there 
is a contractual relationship does not preclude the ICANN community to 
perform its role (develop DNS policy within its scope and competences). 
Registries and ICANN do have entered into contracts PRECISELY to have a 
legal tool to enforce the basic DNS policies developed within ICANN process.

Amadeu